Exposition "World Peace Art 2018"

Ambassador Ihara [Japan],
Mr. Kushida [Representative of the artists]
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to be with you today to mark the 100th Anniversary of the end of the First World War. Thank you Ambassador Ihara and the Permanent Mission of Japan for bringing this exhibition back to the Palais des Nations once more, after we had the honour of hosting it some twenty years ago.

Today’s commemoration holds more meaning than ever before.

A century has passed since the end of the First World War, and when looking back we must also take the time to re-assess where we stand today.

As we can see in the news every day, we live in a world in which conflict is proliferating and the threat of nuclear war is looming as ever new and greater challenges put peace at risk.

States are spending vast sums to modernize their arsenals and nuclear weapons.

More than $1.7 trillion dollars was spent in 2017 on arms and armies – the highest level since the end of the Cold War and around 80 times the amount needed for global humanitarian aid.

The 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, ICAN [International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons], underlined that at dozens of locations across the world – underground, underwater and in the air– lie “over 15,000 objects of humankind’s destruction.”

As part of his new disarmament agenda, “Securing our Common Future”, our Secretary-General underlined the dramatic consequences of nuclear weapons, and how “we are one mechanical, electronic or human error away from a catastrophe”.

We cannot accept this reality in silence. Over the years, advocates such as the World Peace Art Exhibition have worked together with the cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, both victims of the devastating impact of nuclear attacks, towards eliminating weapons of mass destruction.

Today’s exhibit brings messages of peace from different Japanese artists, serving as a powerful reminder that we can only achieve lasting peace through denuclearization.

We need these efforts, because the total elimination of nuclear weapons is not just a lofty goal. It is the precondition for guaranteeing long-term, meaningful international peace and security.

Much work remains to be done, yet lasting peace cannot be achieved without the commitment and cooperation of all actors - governments and citizens, civil society and local leaders across the world must make themselves heard.

The young especially have the potential to become powerful advocates.

And disarmament is one of the greatest unfinished tasks we are passing on to future generations.

I hope that the exhibition today can help instill new vigour and direction in the disarmament debate.

This message resonates particularly strongly here in Geneva, the centre of the world’s nuclear disarmament efforts.

Thank you very much for having brought this exhibition to the Palais des Nations and for being here this afternoon.

Thank you.